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Sunday, 27 January 2013

After a snowy walk in Hilly Fields last Sunday, I visited Arlo & Moe in Crofton Park to warm up over a late lunch. The café has retro formica tables and quirky posters on the wall giving it the 'New Brockley' feel that I'm a big fan of. ('New Brockely' is a term I've decided to coin after my visit to The Gantry).

A table left just as we arrived so we were able to nab a seat by the window and peruse the chalkboard menu. The compact menu is split into breakfast, 'sexy toast', delicious sounding sandwiches and a soup and quiche of the day.

I couldn't find a menu on the web before visiting, and had feared Alro and Moe might be a pure coffee and cake shop, but was pleased to find the food options were more substantial and appealing than I expected.

Dahl

I was hoping for the soup of the day (£3.90) only to learn that they'd already sold out. Instead I was offered some dahl which wasn't on the menu. The homemade and hearty dahl had some bold flavours and a hint of chilli. It was perfectly warming for a wintery day.

The dahl was served with some excellent pain campaillou from Boulangerie Jade in Blackheath. The semi-sourdough had a wonderful flavour in the crust.

We also ordered the avocado and feta 'sexy toast' (£4.50). Two slices of the same pain campaillou came generously topped with avocado and feta with a hefty sprinkling of pepper. I managed to sneak a couple of bites and enjoyed the balance of soft avocado with the salty feta.

Guiness and chocolate cake

We saw Brockley Jon in the café who suggested we try the Guiness and chocolate cake (£3.50). I wouldn't have picked the Guiness if I didn't know that it was in the cake, but it definitely lent a darker colour and extra dimension.

I was also tempted to try the bread pudding (£2) so decided to pick up a slice to takeaway. I enjoyed half of the enormous slice at home that evening with some stewed apples and blackberries foraged from Brockley cemetary. The pudding was heavier than I was expecting (I suspect it is made with the leftover pain campaillou) and I was pleased that I only had half a slice.

Breading pudding

I really enjoyed my first visit to Arlo and Moe. The laid back café had friendly service and charm. The menu, while compact and bread focussed, had lots of interesting options that I'd happily explore on return visits.

2 comments:

Richard was it really sexy toast? Or was it just quite tasty toast? I never quite understood how a meal on a plate gets "sexy"....(I wonder if my kale salad I had for dinner could be considered sexy...I suspect not so much.)